Delivered By The Hand Of God Of Israel Series

Delivered by the Hand of the God of Israel

A. The Revelation

B. The Remembering and Review

C. The Rendering and Recommendations

D. The Recognition and Promotion

DBF, 4/14/02 Genesis 41

As a Bi-vocational Pastor, whose other job is as a Juvenile Probation Officer, I often find myself having to make decisions for the safety of communities in the Bristol Bay, Aleutians, and Pribolof Islands that differ from the feelings of the person being accused of committing a crime and their parents.

I am asked to ensure community protection, to protect of the youth, and to determine what things can be brought into the youths life to preclude any further transgressions against their communities.

Youth and parents have made comments to the effect of:

You don’t like me…

You only do this to Alaska Natives…

You wouldn’t do this if it were someone else…

I know these statements are not true. I love the area and the people that God have placed me around. I also know that people in stressful situations often strike out at whatever is handy—and a lot of times that is me.

What do I do? Do I argue back? Harbor ill feelings and resentment? No, because

I know that they often feel bad later for making these comments and for the most part I can understand the frustration of going through the intake process of a criminal action. I tell the youth and parents that I will always ere on the side of safety. If I send a child into the Youth Center for 3 or 4 days and the youth comes back with a healthier outlook on life it is far preferred than to leave them in the community to harm themselves or others.

Have you ever found yourself falsely accused? Where do you turn to for comfort?

Joseph shows us that as long as we faithfully walk the path that God lays before us—God is faithful to care for us and deliver us from any and all situations—in HIS perfect time. We will see a promise remembered, a dream revealed, and God’s providence rain down as we walk with Joseph through Genesis 41.

A. The Revelation

Genesis 41:1-8

After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, [2] and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. [3] And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. [4] And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. [5] And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. [6] And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. [7] And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. [8] So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

We see that Pharaoh’s dreams are recited. “By the river.” This is significant because the Nile was the tributary that allowed Pharaoh to rule and on many occasions was the reason that the Pharaoh’s were replaced. Pharaoh in the Egyptian culture was a God and if he could not predict the weather that he supposedly controlled, then the people lost confidence in him and he was replaced. For this reason, the dream Pharaoh has supposes himself on the banks of the Nile, in the reeds or marsh grass.

The cow has long been a significant emblem of fruitful nature among the Egyptians, held up in the hieroglyphic symbology of the earth and of agriculture. Pharaoh “Dreamed a second time.” The repetition is designed to confirm the warning given, as Joseph afterward explains Gen. 41:32. Corn (grain) is the natural emblem of fertility and nurture. Then Pharaoh awakes--“And, behold, it was a dream.” Pharaoh’s dream was so impressive that it could have been taken for the reality, until he awoke and perceived that it was only a dream.

“His spirit was troubled.” Have you ever been troubled? We see here that troubles are not a thing only to the lower classes. It knows to geographic, demographic, are economic bounds. Like the officers in the prison Gen. 40:6, he could not get rid of the feeling that the dream had a significant meaning.

So, who does he send for first? “The scribes”—the hieroglyphs, who belonged to the priestly cast, and whose primary business was to make hieroglyphic and other inscriptions; while they were accustomed to consult the stars, interpret dreams, practice soothsaying, and pursue the other occult arts. The sages, who made the various arts above mentioned, while the engraving or inscribing department strictly belonged to the hieroglyphs or scribes. None of these worldly sources could interpret the dreams.